A New Flavor at Hogwarts
by KrazyKatt19
Summary: Four girls arrive at Hogwarts on an exchange from America and find out that life at Hogwarts is nothing like they expected. Between new romances, new adventures, and more, the four girls take on Hogwarts in their own way. Warnings Inside
1. Chapter 1

**(Minor language, minor violence, possible suggestive themes. Most definitely some "that's what she said" moments.)**

**Hey so this is a redo of my original story, "The Four Flavors Meet Hogwarts." I am completely redoing the whole story and it will not follow the original story nor the Harry Potter stories. If you have any questions, leave a comment! Actually I would just love a comment in general if you read it! All critiques are welcome; just don't waste my time with pointless flames.**

**Enjoy!!  
**

**

Chapter One:

Rain spit against the train's windows in a frenzy as the train raced through the countryside. The Hogwarts Express was carting this year's students to the most famous wizarding school around, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In one tiny compartment, four girls were seated. Listening in on their conversation, one could quickly deduce that they were not from Great Britain, rather they were from America. In their case, Idaho to be exact. The four girls were all sixteen years old and participating in an exchange program between their school and Hogwarts.

Sitting in the back right corner, slouched against the wall, was Katie Quatrone. She was wearing faded skinny jeans that were torn at the knees and her black T-Shirt said in a bold gold lettering, 'Blackwater High Track Team.' Shaking her auburn hair out her eyes, she turned to laugh at something the girl next to her had said.

Isabelle Malark, easily the tallest of the girls, was telling a story and her brown curls seemed to bounce with excitement as she spoke. The word "Hollister" was slashed across her chest on her red long-sleeve shirt, and her dark washed jeans twitched as she kept tapping her foot.

Across from her, Indigo Stringham was tapping out a rhythm on her legs with her drumsticks, which she had brought with her to England. Her long black hair covered most of the stars on her shirt, and the purple streaks in her hair stood out against the white material of the shirt. Her legs were stretched out and were resting on the area on the seat between her two friends. Her jeans were black with zippers on the cuffs.

The last girl was named Makenzie Ashwell. As she was laughing, out of habit she pushed her blonde hair behind her ears then back out in front. She was wearing light wash jeans and her flip-flops showed off her manicured toes. Her shirt was a crème colored tank top with tiny rosebuds on it; so tiny they appeared to be dots.

Their conversation, while seemingly hilarious to the four girls, was probably not understandable to anyone else. They were such close friends, more sisters than anything else, that they were able to say maybe two words before howling with laughter. Never underestimate the power of friendship; it makes mind reading very believable. Looking at them separately would lead to the conclusion that they were all very different. This was true, but when you watched all four together their similarities were astounding. They spoke with the same mannerisms, laughed like each other, and managed to talk over each other (often interrupting) and still understand what was going on. To any onlooker it was very confusing.

This was in fact happening to three teenagers who were standing outside the compartment's doors. Harry Potter and his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, had arrived on the train later than normal (blame runaway Crookshanks) and were in need of a compartment. All were filled and when they had finally reached the back of the train, they had stumbled across this one. Even at a school as large as Hogwarts, one gets the feeling that you can at least recognize a majority of the students. In this case, the Golden Trio was at a loss. None of them recognized the four girls sitting in the compartment, not even an inkling of who they might be. Plus, none of them were wearing robes so they couldn't even guess what house they were in.

"It's not like there are any other places to sit," Hermione finally voiced, answering the unasked question. So with a shrug, Harry slid the compartment doors open. The four girls glanced up, their conversation coming to a halt. "Um, hey!" Harry stammered, giving a small awkward wave. "Hey," chorused the girls, causing Ron to chuckle. "That was good. Practice much?" he asked teasingly, edging his way into the compartment. "Only occasionally," retorted Indigo with a grin.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" asked Hermione brightly. By way of answer, the girls scooted closer to each other to make room. After the three students settled in and introductions were made, the seven sat silently. "So America?" Harry finally voiced. "Britain's got to be pretty different from home for you all."

The girls all nodded but Makenzie was the one to reply. "It's a huge a change, y'all get so much rain here and back in Idaho we never got any rain." "At least none worth mentioning," Katie added. Hermione frowned. "But if you're from Idaho, how do you have an accent? We studied America in Muggle Studies and if I'm correct," she faced Makenzie, "you have an accent from the southeastern part of the States."

Makenzie giggled, a blush coming across her face for a moment. "Well, we all live in Idaho. I moved there from South Carolina." Indigo jokingly punched her friend in her arm, "Yup she's our little southern belle!" she said teasingly. "South Carolina did get rain," she admitted. "But I've lived in Idaho for so long now that I'm not used to it anymore."

A silence came back awkwardly. "How about some music?" Isabelle asked suddenly, already reaching into her backpack beneath the seat. "Music?" repeated Ron with a confused expression on his face. "Don't tell me that you've never heard of music Ron," remarked Indigo with a grin. "Nah I have, I just didn't…" he trailed off as he stared at the contraption in Isabelle's hands. "What is that?"

"This is an iPod," she answered, busily fiddling with some of the buttons on it. Hermione cut in, "But that's a muggle device. It won't work here." Katie shook her head. "Actually yeah it will. One of our classes back home was to change muggle inventions so that they could work in wizarding environments. That's our version of Muggle Studies," she added with a laugh.

"It's a lifesaver," Makenzie said before turning to Isabelle. "Hey Iz, make sure to choose a good song!" "Would I choose any other kind?" Isabelle retorted. Suddenly the iPod came to life, it's little square lighting up and words blasting out of it.

_I wish I was little bit taller,  
I wish I was a baller  
I wish I had a girl who looked good  
I would call her  
I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat  
and a '64 Impala.  
_

The four girls automatically started singing along, much to the amusement and shock of the three British teens. "What song is that?" Harry half shouted over the song. "I Wish by Secret Handshake," Makenzie shouted back before continuing on with her singing.

Ron shrugged at Harry's bemused expression. "You have to admit, it's kinda catchy!" he shouted at his best friend, his head bobbing with the beat of the song. Hermione even found herself tapping her hands to the beat and she laughed. "I should definitely bring this up to Professor Burbage," she said excitedly.

All of a sudden Indigo shouted, "SWITCH!" and Makenzie dove for the iPod and began flipping through the songs. Before Harry, Ron, or Hermione knew what was going on, a new song was blasting out of the tiny speakers. "And which song is this?" Ron yelled. "Tik Tok by Ke$ha!" yelled back Katie.

_I'm talking pedicure on our toes, toes  
Trying on all our clothes, clothes  
_

However before any more singing could continue, the doors to the compartment slammed open with a bang. All seven fell silent and turned to look at the door. "Good god, I didn't think Hogwarts could even sink any lower. But Americans too now?" drawled a rather tall boy standing in the frame of the door. "Malfoy," snarled Harry under his breath.

"Oh Potter is that you? I didn't even see you there. You're hidden by that Mudblood, Blood traitor, and this new American scum," laughed Draco Malfoy, letting out a bark like laugh. "Hey, now hang on a sec!" Indigo said suddenly, her eyes narrowing. The two boys fell silent and turned to stare at the now standing teenager. "Exactly who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded. Draco stepped into the compartment and his two cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, took his place in the frame, blocking a way out. "Oh you know how to speak do you?" Draco snapped, a smirk twisting his face as he advanced on Indigo.

Standing at what was obviously above six feet tall, Draco stood almost a head above Indigo but she didn't back down. When she didn't say anything, Draco let out a growl. "Seeing as how introductions haven't been made, I'll introduce myself. Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He was about to continue on but was interrupted by someone snorting. He rounded on the person who did and came face to face with Isabelle who had stood up. Though taller than Isabelle, the height difference was less noticeable and thus less intimidating. "Nice introduction, bit of a rip off of James Bond though don't ya think?"

The reference went over Draco's head but he caught on that it was a disguised insult. "Insolent American bitch," he muttered before yanking his wand out and fully facing Isabelle. The two stood glaring at each other, barely a foot apart. Draco's wand was pressing into Isabelle's stomach but she stood her ground.

"Put it down Malfoy," Harry said, cutting off the staring contest that the two seemed to be trapped in. Draco peeked over his shoulder to see the rest of the compartment's occupants had stood up and drawn their wands. Feeling something odd, he looked down to see that Isabelle had jabbed him in the stomach with her wand. "You heard Harry, put it down," she hissed, her eyes slits. Draco glared and slowly lowered his and she followed suit. "This isn't over," he whispered before saying loudly, "Come on Crabbe, Goyle. This scum isn't worth it." He shouldered his way out and his two thugs popped their knuckles and followed like the dogs they were.

With a sigh, everyone sat down. "Well that was exciting," Katie remarked dryly. Hermione shook her head. "Honestly. I know he's a prat but do you guys always have to go at it? I swear every time he comes, wands get pulled out and we're just seconds away from a duel."

"Come on 'Mione," whined Ron. "It's not like we were asking for it!" "And besides," Harry interjected. "He always starts it." Hermione let out her breath in a huff. "Yeah I suppose…"

"Well now that he's gone, I think we have some music to catch up on!" Makenzie exclaimed excitedly, gladly breaking the tension. She grabbed the iPod and cranked it back up. As the train hurtled through the night to the castle, the group of seven eased back into the comfort they had been in before the arrival of a certain Slytherin.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

The sky was growling with thunder as the carriages pulled into the Hogwarts grounds, carrying the student body for that year. The students hurried in, holding their robes above their heads in an attempt to stay dry. However it quite obviously failed, as the stairs leading to the Great Hall were spotted with rather large puddles. Filch followed the students, grumbling the entire way about the messiness of careless teenagers. Mrs. Norris stayed close to her master's feet, hissing in anger as her paws hit the water.

The students all edged into the Great Hall, all starving and looking forward to what they knew would be an excellent meal.

The four girls stood near the back of the group, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Ugh I hate the rain," groaned Isabelle as she wrung out her hair. "Oh here, I don't know why I didn't think of this before," Hermione said quickly, pulling out her wand. She waved it at the group and the water evaporated, leaving them slightly damp but for the most part dry.

After expressing their thanks, the group went into the Great Hall. "See ya later," Harry called over his shoulder as he, Ron, and Hermione made their way to the Gryffindor table. The girls waved at the trio before falling in line behind the first years.

Professor McGonagall walked out carrying a ratty brown hair and a stool. After placing the two items down, McGonagall addressed the group standing in front of her.

"When your name is called, you will come up here and I will place the hat on your head, and then it will be decided which house you belong in."

The four girls looked at each other with apprehension. This seemed a very strange way to get sorted; back home you filled out a lot of surveys and then got analyzed by the administration. Your personal feelings about which house you wanted to be in also could determine which house you were in, or if there was a family legacy in the house.

The four girls were unusually silent as they watched all the tiny first years go up one by one to get sorted. Soon only they were the only ones standing in the middle. "Shit this is embarrassing," whispered Indigo, glancing around at the gawking students. "Just keep looking forward," whispered back Katie, not taking her eyes off the hat. Dumbledore took this time to stand up. "Students, I would like to introduce you all to something new that Hogwarts is doing this year," he said with a sweep of his hands.

"If any of you noticed, four of our own students are not here, one from each house. We are participating in an exchange program with an American wizarding school, Helicase Academy. In their place, four American students have come to study here at Hogwarts. Please," he said with his signature twinkle in his eye, "Make these four young women welcome here."

He sat down again and the students let out a hesitant clap but kept their focus on the four girls. Isabelle felt a burning on the back of her neck and cautiously turned her head to find the source of the staring. It was Malfoy. He was glaring at her murderously. Shaken, she turned back to face the Sorting Hat.

"Makenzie Ashwell," called out McGonagall. Makenzie walked quickly up to the stand and sat down on the stool, twisting her hands in nervousness.

_Hmm, a strong willed person. Not easily ruffled but still, best not to upset you too greatly. You seem to have a strong bond to your friends. Well Slytherin certainly won't do… In that case…_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat's voice echoed in the Great Hall but was drowned out by the cheering from the scarlet and gold clad table. Makenzie couldn't stop grinning as she made her way over to the table and sat down next to Harry and a girl who introduced herself as Lavender Brown.

"Isabelle Malark," was the next name called. Isabelle walked up and sat down, shutting her eyes so she couldn't see the sea of students in front of her. Without realizing it, she was muttering to herself, _anything but Slytherin_, repeatedly.

The hat chortled before speaking to her.

_So not Slytherin eh? Sounds like a boy I sorted five years ago. He didn't want Slytherin either. Hmm, you seem to have already gotten yourself in trouble. Well if that's true, I see that someone as stubborn as you would do well to stick with your loyal friends who can back you up… _

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The cheering was just as loud as when Makenzie had been sorted and Isabelle joined her friend with a squeal and a hug. She carefully chose to sit on the side that placed her back towards the Slytherin table. There was no way that she wanted to look at Malfoy while she was eating.

"Katie Quatrone," said McGonagall. Katie strode up to the stool and promptly sat down, really confident about the whole thing.

_Rather confident about this aren't you? You appear to be very competitive, determined too. I'm detecting a possibility for Ravenclaw, ah but was that no? Well then if you are sure you want to be with your friends…_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Again the cheering commenced and Katie slid in next to Isabelle with a similar squeal. They then all turned to watch Indigo get sorted.

McGonagall looked at her list, then kind of shrugged like, _'You know the hell who is next to get on up here_. "Indigo Stringham," she called out but Indigo was already half seated in the chair by the time the last syllable had left the professor's mouth.

_I'm getting a huge sense of loyalty from you… definitely a hard worker. An individual who wants to stand out but be accepted? Mhmm, you are one of a kind. Hufflepuffs do fit those qualities, but what a shame it would be to separate someone so close to their friends. In that case…_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat had barely finished speaking when the Gryffindor table had erupted into cheers. They were quite proud to have gotten the four new students. Indigo raced over and hugged each of her friends before sitting down next to Makenzie.

Dumbledore stood up once more. "Now as most of you know the rules, and I'm sure you four young ladies know what rules are from your old school," he added, "so I am only going to say this. Enjoy!" He waved his hands and food immediately shimmered into view on the table. The students gave a cry of excitement and began to dig in.

The dishes were dramatically exquisite and the four girls couldn't believe their eyes. As they heaped up their plates with pasta, salads, breaded chicken, and so much more food, they couldn't help but exclaim their amazement at the choices out loud.

Hermione let out a snort. "The food here is made by enslaved house elves, who have been brainwashed into thinking that making food for hungry teenagers is the only life for them."

Harry laughed. "Hermione's hell-bent on saving the house elves," he said as way of explanation. "Bloody stupid too," Ron mumbled through a thick bite of steak and gravy. "Mione hasn't been able to accept that they really do want to work like dogs," he whispered to Indigo who laughed.

All too soon they had finished the dinner portion and dessert had appeared. "Oh god I'm going to be so fat," whined Katie, but couldn't help herself as she heaped some key lime cheesecake onto her now sparkling clean plate. Makenzie nodded through her large bite of strawberry shortcake and Indigo was too distracted by the dark chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce. Isabelle was staring enviously at all the food. "Man this is giving me so many ideas," she said almost to herself, the pastry chef part of her kicking in.

Their conversation continued and the girls kept up smiling while they met more of their fellow classmates. However though once the dessert had disappeared, the exhaustion set in. "I'm so ready to just sleep now," remarked Makenzie as she stifled a yawn. "Where will you all be sleeping?" asked Hermione as they started to make their way out of the Great Hall. "In the letter we got, it said that we would have our own room while we stayed here," answered Indigo. "And I do believe it's on the fifth floor and that would be…" Isabelle's voice trailed off. "Over there," Harry responded, nodding his toward their left.

"Okay thanks!" chorused the girls, breaking off from the group of Gryffindors they had been walking with. "Night!"

The night was a calm one, everyone fast asleep in the dormitories. It was just the beginning of the new year though, who knew if it would be this peaceful for the rest of the year.

--

Sorry for the delay, finals and school and everything. :P Hopefully chapters will start coming out faster!

Oh and brownie points to anyone who catches the biology vocabulary used!

Please comment!!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

With a quick jolt, Indigo jerked awake. She blinked her eyes blearily and assessed her surroundings. A four-post bed, scarlet colored drapes, a hooting owl… was this some kind of joke? "Jared this isn't funny," she grumbled before cowering back under her blankets. "Indy wake up, first day of classes," sang a voice that definitely didn't belong to her older brother. Indigo peered over her covers. "Katie? Why are you here? And why do you have to be such a morning person?" Just as the question left her mouth, it dawned on Indigo. "Hogwarts!"

The girls laughed as their still tired friend scrambled out of bed. "Oh shut up," she grumbled, making her way to the bathroom.

Katie and Isabelle were already fully dressed in the uniform and Makenzie was battling with the Gryffindor tie. "Indigo, if there's time can you curl my hair?" asked Makenzie as Isabelle swatted the Southern girl's hands away from the crumpled tie so she could do it correctly. "Sure, sure," called back Indigo from the bathroom.

Katie impatiently shifted her weight from foot to foot, and pulled at the pleated skirt. "I hate skirts," she grumbled for what was probably the tenth time that morning. Too much of an athlete, she was entirely out of her comfort zone in the feminine article of clothing. "You know you should wear more skirts. You're a track runner, you have great legs that should be showed off," remarked Makenzie, watching her friend's discomfort. Katie blushed and mumbled a thanks.

Indigo stumbled out of the bathroom, pulling on her knee high socks as she came. "Come on Kenz, I'll curl your hair," she huffed out, throwing back her own black and purple hair into a ponytail. The two girls disappeared back into the bathroom.

Isabelle and Katie looked at each other, used their friend telepathy, and yelled to the two other girls, "We're hungry! We're going to go down to breakfast!!"

Without waiting for a response, the two took off to the Great Hall.

A redhead they recognized as a girl who had introduced herself as Ginny Weasley waved them over. "Morning," she said cheerily, already having helped herself to breakfast. "Morning," they replied, both sitting down across from her. "McGonagall's passing out schedules," she said as way of conversation. "Sweet! I hope we get some good ones," Katie responded as she looked around for the severe looking headmistress.

After filling their plates to a wonderful display of pancakes with powdered sugar and maple syrup, a ham and cheese omelet, and hash browns to each, the two girls began to drill the youngest Weasley on the teachers of Hogwarts. They were interrupted by the arrival of Hermione, Indigo, and Makenzie. "Hey y'all," Makenzie said with a grin as she sat down next to Ginny. Before the conversation could continue, McGonagall walked up. "Your schedules ladies," she said kindly, passing them to their appropriate owners.

The girls, minus Ginny because she was a year younger, instantly began comparing schedules and found that they had most classes together. "Oh this should be fun," Indigo said happily, taking a big bite of her chocolate donut. "Thank goodness we have Potions together," Hermione said, taking another glance at the schedules. "Why's that?" asked Isabelle. "Professor Snape's the teacher and he's a right old bat," growled Hermione, looking up at the line of teachers at their table. They all looked up then to observe the said professor.

Snape was currently stabbing the sausage links on his plate with his fork, before bringing them to his scowling mouth. His black hair hung to his shoulders, definitely on the greasy side. With his hooked nose and piercing black eyes, he somehow managed to make the mere task of eating look unpleasant. He indeed resembled a bat with his black robes that buttoned all the way up to his chin, leaving the only skin showing his extremely white face and spidery hands that clutched his drinking glass.

"Joyful looking fellow," Katie said dryly before returning to her breakfast. Makenzie shivered. "He does not look like a nice guy at all." Hermione shook her head. "He's not. He plays favorites with the Slytherins, mocks us Gryffindors and takes house points away from us for stupid reasons, and he's just a git in general," she said spitefully.

"We talking about Snape?" Harry asked, taking a seat next to the ranting bookworm. "Yeah Hermione was just introducing us to him," Indigo told him with a roll of her eyes. "He seems like a douche," she finished. Harry nodded. "Oh he is, that is for sure."

More students had sat down during this and more introductions went around. As they all shared their schedules, they discovered that they all seemed to have a lot of the same classes together.

"So first up is double Herbology with Professor Sprout," said Isabelle, taking another look at her schedule. "And it's with the Hufflepuffs so it shouldn't be too bad," added Dean Thomas, a tall black teenager that had just joined up with the group.

**

"Welcome students to another year of Herbology," trilled the tiny professor.

The students were lined up along a string of wooden tables. The tables creaked under the weight of several dozen ceramic pots that were filled with a dark brown, almost black, soil. All the students had changed up into their Herbology robes as to not ruin their new, clean robes.

"As a reminder, Herbology is the study of magical plants and fungi, including their care and their magical properties and uses," Professor Sprout told the class as she pulled on her stiff, worn brown leather gloves.

"This here," she said, sifting her hands through the large pot in front of her, "is dragon dung compost. It's best for planting and pretty easy to come by if you know the right people," she added with a chuckle.

"Now then," she said, snapping out of her private moment. "Today we will be planting Screechsnap, a semi-sentient plant that tends to wriggle and squeak uncomfortably when given too much dragon dung manure. Your job will be to successfully plant four pots each in the span of thirty minutes. Afterwards, we will begin our next project. Now then, hop to it!"

The students began to work and immediately the wails could be heard from the distressed plants. 

Two hours later, the bedraggled Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs made their way out of the Greenhouses.

"Urgh," groaned Makenzie, pulling a clod of manure out of her hair. "That had to be the messiest class ever," Katie said, attempting to rub the dirt streaks off of her face. They all laughed at each other's faces before Indigo finally dug out their schedules. "Right, looks like we have Charms now."

The four girls made their way to the classroom, along with the Golden Trio, Dean, Seamus Finnegan, Lavender, and another girl who was introduced as Parvati Patil. After seating themselves around the classroom, and the tiny Professor Flitwick introduced the class and himself, the students began to work on charming their school supplies to grow and shrink.

Soon they had not only finished Charms and History of Magic (all four girls, who were unused to the monotone teacher, fell asleep during the lecture to Professor Binns' voice), but a delicious lunch had ended as well.

"Oh great, Potions next," cursed Ron, as the group of seven made their way out of the Great Hall. They all groaned, and dragged themselves back to the dormitories to gather their stuff before making their way down into the dungeons.

"Shit." 

"What?" Harry asked Isabelle. 

"It's double Potions with the Slytherins," the tall girls replied unhappily. Katie shook her head in disgust. "It's going to be a long two hours then." By the time this conversation ended, they were standing in front of the dark stained doorway to the classroom. "Well we can't just stand here can we?" asked Hermione briskly, pushing open the door with a creak. The group crowded into the smoky room and took their seats.

Snape's voice sliced through the air as he emerged from the smoke. "Welcome to Potions class," he said silkily, his spider-like fingers twirling his wand.

"Or in other words, welcome to hell," growled Harry, just as Snape turned to face the Boy Who Lived.

******

**So this chapter finished a lot faster than I had thought it would, so I'm very happy! **** Normally I would have tried to put the whole Potions class in this chapter but I thought it deserved its own chapter so that will be next!  
**

**Read & Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow, I'm so excited that people like my story!! So a couple of my comments I was unable to respond to so I'm going to be answering them here:**

**Katie Engle -- Thank you so much! Yeah I'm planning in probably the next chapter (as well as a little in this one) to really get inside the girls' lives to give the readers a chance to really get to know them. And oh yes, I have definitely thought of some pairings! **Huge grin****

**Someone -- Thanks!! Do you mean their sleeping arrangements? If so, I considered having them with the other girls but then decided it might work better if they had their own room. I see Dumbledore assigning them their own room for some reason. Is that what you meant?**

**Southern_Belle -- I unfortunately can't write as often as I would like to, so update are pretty random. Sometimes I can crank out chapters in a couple of days, some times it takes me almost two weeks or more. I wish they were more regular but they aren't sadly.**

**As always, please read and review!! **

**

Chapter Three:

The room fell silent as Snape made his way to stand in front of Harry's desk. "I'm sorry Mr. Potter, do you care to repeat what you just said?" he asked, his voice oozing out, laced with just a hint of malice.

Harry remained stubbornly silent, obviously thinking of how he should respond to the Potions master. It was quite apparent that Snape had heard what Harry had said but seemed to want to embarrass Harry by having the teen repeat himself. Hermione nudged Harry roughly with her elbow as if to tell him to remain silent. Through a clenched jaw, Harry managed to spit out, "I said that this class was hell."

Hermione groaned and buried her head in her hands, Ron held back a laugh by disguising it with a cough, and the rest of the class held their breath in anticipation. Snape stared down at Harry, his only reaction a slight flare of his nostrils. Finally he replied to the insult with a simple, "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a week's worth of detention. Be here at 8 sharp or two more weeks."

With that, he turned on his heel and went back up to the front of the room, still playing with his wand. Katie, known back home for never taking crap from teachers, couldn't help herself as she burst out. "Seriously? You get detention here if you speak the truth? What happened to freedom of speech? Or is that just in America?"

Any noise that had started up again in the classroom immediately stopped.

Snape froze, his back to the class. He honestly was so surprised about the outburst that he at first didn't know how to respond. Feeling the long wood of his wand between his fingers, he couldn't help but wish he could just hex the transfer student. But the reasonable part of him reminded him that he was a teacher and was not supposed to hex his own students. So choosing the easy way out, he retorted without turning around, "Another fifty points from Gryffindor, and make that two weeks of detention."

Katie sullenly slouched back in her seat, frustrated at the injustice. How dare Snape overreact like that!?

Her internal rant ended though as Snape began to speak to the class as a whole.

"Today we will be taking one of the many advanced steps in potion making. Most of you are used to making potions without the aid of your wands but today's lesson will be teaching the use of using your wand with potions. In case of dire need, a wizard or witch may need a certain potion but they have the wrong one on their person. In this situation, if the wizard or witch is capable enough they are able to change the potion to the one they desire. The spells you will learn can change the affect of the ingredients, or change the ingredients themselves. This is complex magic and not everyone gets it the first time, and some don't ever get it. Great concentration is needed as well as clear diction of the spell and precise wand movement."

After his speech, Snape stared at the class who were all silent with amazement. As he had suspected, none of the of the students seemed to be aware that this was possible. Even know-it-all Granger seemed struck silent.

Lazily he then flicked his wand and instructions appeared on the blackboard. "You first will make the potion, then start the changing process with your wands. We will start with simple potions and slowly work our way up to more complicated potions. You may begin."

Class went on with the students working steadily for once. The prospect of being able to do this type of magic seemed unbelievable and no one wanted to fail at it. Retorts between the Slytherins and Gryffindors were kept to minimum, more mumbled insults than loud sarcastic comebacks.

Hermione was bent over her potion, her brow furrowed in deep concentration. Her already curly hair seemed to have been electrocuted (something that had confused Ron when Indigo had commented on it due to him not really knowing what electricity was) and her robe had been discarded and her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. Her wand stayed hovered over her cauldron and she seemed to be mouthing the instructions to herself as she worked.

Even Neville Longbottom was as focused as anyone had seen him. His logic was that it was potions that he was bad at, not spell casting. If he could master this lesson then he could master the whole potions class.

Harry kept sliding his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose as they kept slipping down. He also had to occasionally wipe them off because the steam from the potion kept fogging them up. His potion was a murky yellowish brown, not quite the bright fluorescent yellow it should have been. In his confusion he ran his hands through his black hair, increasing its messiness. He wasn't exactly sure where he had screwed up.

Ron's potion was actually relatively close to where it should be in color, but it was emitting huge bubbles and a strange smell close to the smell of burned hair was coming from it. The potion was supposed to be placid and odorless, so Ron was quickly skimming the instructions again to find where he had gone wrong.

Indigo had tied her long hair back with one of the many hair bands she kept on her wrists. Her potion seemed accurate enough but she felt that she was behind some of the other kids because she was taking her time making sure the potion was right.

Next to Indigo, Isabelle was almost done with her potion and it seemed almost perfectly accurate. To her, making potions came naturally to her just as cooking did. After all, the differences between cooking and potions were so slim that to her, the dungeon was just another kitchen. She had borrowed a hair band from Indigo to pull her hair back, and she was currently cursing at herself for not trimming her fingernails the night before.

Katie was done with her potion and at the moment was putting it in the container where she would cast the spells onto it. She was a fast worker, always just going with her gut instinct. Though she wasn't always 100% right, she couldn't force herself to slow done her work process. She felt uncomfortable as the only one reaching the spell casting stage but she brushed it off so she could focus.

Makenzie was around the same stage that Indigo was, also taking her time with the potion. She was unbothered by the quick pace of her partner, and she instead kept to her own pace while singing quietly to herself. Her hands drilled on the table as she scanned the instructions again, keeping beat with the song stuck in her head.

Over on the other side of the smoke filled room, Draco Malfoy was having difficulties with his potion. It had been looking fine until he added the crushed Beetle of Egypt, which somehow turned his entire potion a vibrant plum color. Furious, he had looked at the instructions again and realized that if the beetle had not been thoroughly crushed, the blood of the beetle would change the color of the potion. Growling, he cleared his potion with a wave of his wand and started again. He shot an accusation at Goyle for distracting him with his stupidness, but what Draco didn't want to admit was that he knew that his distraction hadn't been the thuggish teenager next to him. No, he had been more distracted by the way that the lighting of the dungeon reflected off of a certain exchange student's hair. _Bloody hell_, he groaned to himself as he caught himself from looking to his left again. This was not good.

**

Class finished with about two-thirds of the class achieving the desired completed potion. Snape was impressed to say the least. Some of the kids had gotten close, and only two or three had not gotten it. Snape dismissed them, assigning them a foot long essay on the dangers of messing up the spell casting on the potions.

As the students made their way back up to join the rest of the school, and go to the last class of the day, they discussed the happenings of the potions class. Katie was absolutely furious with Snape and she and Harry got in a heated discussion about the potions master. Hermione had rushed off to get to her Ancient Runes class so the group didn't have to listen to her lecture about respecting teachers.

Indigo and Ron were walking a little behind the group and Indigo was sharing some of her favorite music with him. She always carried her iPod on her and the two were currently bobbing their heads to Attack Attack!'s 'Stick Stickly'.

Makenzie couldn't help but continue to glance over her shoulder at the two. There seemed to be chemistry between the two and she hoped that maybe the two would continue to get to know each other…

Up ahead, Isabelle was talking with Seamus and Dean, drilling them on the shops of Hogsmeade. Her mom had stopped her from packing her suitcase with mostly cooking supplies, and now she really needed to get her hands on some. On the train ride over, she had been reading a new pastry cookbook and was determined to try some out. There had been some super cute Halloween treats and she hoped that maybe Dumbledore would let her include some of them at the Halloween feast. Suddenly she whirled around.

"Kenz! Indigo! Katie! I have an idea!"

"What?" chorused the three girls.

"There should be a Halloween dance! Why should Hogwarts just have a Yuletide one? Why not a Halloween one?" she exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down a little.

"How about we make it a masquerade ball?" suggested Makenzie, costume ideas already beginning to go through her mind.

"Great idea, but um guys?" Ron spoke up, nervously eyeing the girls. "It's only September and well I doubt the teachers want to plan two balls…"

"We'll plan it, don't worry about it," Katie said quickly.

"Oh my god, this is going to be amazing," gushed Makenzie, looping her arms between Indigo and Katie. Isabelle joined them and the four finished walking to Divination with arms linked, whispering and giggling to each other.


End file.
